In another post I discuss how to quit the rat race, but before you go ahead and do that, you need to ask the question – “can I work for myself?”
Coronavirus – What to do if you’ve lost your job or contract
[Updated April 18th]
If you’ve lost your job or your contract, there are steps you need to take immediately, and things you can do to prepare for the recovery.
If you or your business have been impacted by this crisis, and a new or improved website would help, please visit our friends at Strategic Web Solutions.
First, it’s important to remember that we will get through this. It will be tougher for some than other, and maybe tougher than it’s ever been for some, but we will get through it.
Here’s what you need to do now.
First, steady the ship:
- Acknowledge that changes will be needed until the situation turns around
- Apply for benefits/assistance
- Unemployment benefits, wage support, etc.
- In Australia, government support for businesses can be found here and support for individuals/households can be found here
- [April 13th] An excellent summary of support available to small businesses and the self-employed can be found here (Australia)
- [April 13th] Details of the Paycheck Protection Program (USA) can be found here
[April 18th] Latest details about JobKeeper Payments for sole traders and self employed, from the ATO here- [April 27th] JobKeeper – updated after some confusion regarding sole traders
Sole traders go here
Other businesses go here
- Apply for relief from your lenders/creditors – business expenses relief, rent/lease pause or reduction, etc.
- Unemployment benefits, wage support, etc.
- Build a (new) budget
- Cut all non-essential expenses
- Reduce or pause bills (utilities, credit cards, etc.)
- Work out how much you really need to survive
Next, establish a new routine and do what you can:
- Get immediate help
- Apart from everything above, are there other things you need help with – whether personally or professionally?
- If so, who can you turn to? A family member, friend, or colleague if you need a loan? A support line if you are struggling with mental health issues?
And finally, consider your next steps, and prepare:
- How can you find some (any) work, or attract clients, during the current crisis?
- Depending on your area of expertise, there could be opportunities for you (e.g. see this article)
- What can you do to set yourself up for when things start to go back to normal?
- If you’ve lost your job, is now the time to start your independent consulting career?
- If you’re already an independent consultant, can you refresh your website and profile, learn new skills, etc?
Coronavirus update (COVID-19) – Help for Consultants
I know what it’s like to have no work, but still have bills to pay and mouths to feed. The current situation is putting many people in that position, and I want to help.
I know that if you’ve just lost your job or your contract, you need help now. Over the next few weeks I will be posting practical advice and steps you can take to survive right now, and to either find work quickly, or get yourself ready for when work becomes available again. Bookmark this page as I will keep it updated with links to all related posts and resources.
For as long as this crisis continues, I am offering discounted websites for consultants, and free 1-on-1 sessions. Contact me here.
If you or your business have been impacted by this crisis, and a new or improved website would help, please visit our friends at Strategic Web Solutions.
What you need to do now (more details, regularly updated, here):
- First, steady the ship
- Establish a new routine and do what you can
- Consider your next steps, and prepare
In Australia:
- National Coronavirus Helpline
- Government support for businesses can be found here and support for individuals/households can be found here
- Mental health support services here and here
Am I Ready To Be A Freelance Consultant?
So you want to be a freelance consultant? That’s not surprising, given that freelancing as a career choice (or as a way to earn an income while building a startup) is growing fast – in the US, UK, Asia, and Europe.
Freelance consulting sounds perfect, and no doubt you’re attracted by the flexibility. You can work when and where you want, choose your clients and projects, and are responsible for your own success. You can take breaks whenever you want, spend more time with your family, and do away with commutes/peak hour traffic!
Maybe you’re dreaming of making a lot more money, or working only 6 months every year, or of building up your own agency. And it’s all possible – but it takes work. With the right approach, and some effort, you could be living the life you’ve dreamed about.
Freelance consulting is not for everyone. Some people are better suited to, or even thrive, working in a traditional 9-to-5 office job. The following worksheet will help you figure out if you’re ready to take the leap to freelance consulting – and if you’re not, what you need to do to get yourself ready.
Click here to download my free “Am I Ready To Be A Freelance Consultant?” worksheet.
Cheers
Dino
2016 is the Year of the Freelancer
The freelancing movement is picking up pace – and numbers!
I’ve witnessed this in my personal experience, and I believe it won’t be long before freelancers make up the majority of the workforce.
There are several reasons for the shift, and this article sums them up well. It also quotes some interesting statistics from the Working Trends 2015 survey.
I’ll cover what I think this shift means in terms of the workplace and work practices of the future in a future post.
Cheers
Dino
Why Do We Work 8 Hours a Day?
Hi everyone. A quick post today on a topic that I feel strongly about. Have you ever stopped to think: Why Do We Work 8 Hours a Day?
It’s always struck me as strange that people just accept that it’s OK for work to take up most of our time. For a lot of (most?) people, that is sadly the case. It’s madness – do you spend 8 hours a day with your children or other loved ones? Isn’t that far more important than working?!
And in any case, our output (results) should be more important than our input (time).
As I have said many times, when you’re on your death-bed you won’t be thinking “Gee I wish I’d worked more…”
This is also one of the reasons I became a freelance consultant. To have more flexibility with my time, and to be judged more on my results, and less on the amount of time I put in.
I will expand on this in a future post, but in the meantime check out this article which I found interesting about how we came to accept working 8 hours a day in the first place.
Cheers
Dino
Freelance Consulting Over the Holidays
One benefit of being in the rat race (a.k.a. having a ‘regular’ job) is that you get paid annual leave to take over the Christmas/New Year holidays, when most businesses shut their doors for at least a couple of weeks.
But what if you are a freelance consultant? Generally speaking, if you’re not working you’re not getting paid.
If you have some fixed price or success-based fee work, and you can work on that even while your client’s business is closed for the holidays, then great – you can work through the holidays if you like.
What, I Can’t Work on Anything?
But what if that isn’t the case for you, and you’re not getting paid? Well hopefully you have planned for this time and managed your cash flow accordingly, in which case you can think of this as forced annual leave. While that may not be a good thing if you need the money, it’s actually a great opportunity to do some cleaning up and to take a step back and evaluate where you are and where you’re heading.
Get Your House in Order
I’m sure you’ve got all your paperwork and invoicing in order and completely up to date like I have, right? Yeah, right. Well now is the perfect time to do that – all the things you normally don’t get to do because you’re busy – without clients pressuring you. Of course, you may have family pressuring you instead. Just work out a schedule where you’re not working the whole time, and explain to them that this is important for your livelihood.
Look at the Big Picture
In general I don’t think we freelancers spend enough time thinking about whether or not we’re heading in the right direction, or even where we’re heading at all. We’re too busy working! But I think it’s critical that we think about two ‘big picture’ items in particular: how to do what we do better, and how we will eventually stop doing it.
Ultimately we want to make more money, work less, or both. So how do we achieve that? And one day you will want to, or have to, stop working. What then? I’ll cover both these items in more depth in a future post.
Take a Break
The ‘forced annual leave’ over the Christmas/New Year holiday is the ideal time to get your house in order, take stock of where you are, and do some big picture planning for your future.
And don’t forget to actually take some time off, relax, and recharge your batteries.
Cheers
Dino
How to be More Effective: Play to Your Strengths
Conventional wisdom says we should improve our weaknesses. Why, so we end up with slightly “less weak” weaknesses? Screw that, I say play to your strengths!
We’re all naturally good at some things and not others. And by that I don’t mean just those things for which we have aptitude, but also things that we enjoy doing and that actually give us energy.
I remember when I was a hard-core coder, putting in 20 hour days was easy because I was so into it. The idea of coding for 20 hours a day now gives me palpitations. But the idea of launching a business and paying someone else to do the coding excites me, even if it still means I’m putting in 20 hours a day.
On the other hand, improving our weaknesses is often a waste of time. We may get a little better at some things, but often with an associated opportunity cost. And we probably still won’t enjoy those things. We’re far more productive when we play to our strengths.
Playing to your strengths makes you more effective
Today, more than ever before, we can outsource absolutely anything. Does it make sense for you to struggle with your taxes, for example, when it will not only take you five times as long as an accountant, but also take away from what you’re good at doing? I don’t think so.
Granted, we don’t always have the luxury of getting other people to do the work we’re not good at or don’t enjoy. Even so, we should then spend the minimum amount of time necessary to do that work, and get back to playing to our strengths. Only this way will we be more effective and become more successful so that we can eventually outsource the other stuff.
Look at highly successful people in any area of life – from entrepreneurs to athletes to artists – and more often than not, they would have devoted their lives to developing their natural strengths.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t be learning new things and improving yourself. I constantly have 2 or 3 books I’m in the middle of reading. I love reading and improving myself, as long as it’s related to things I enjoy or that excite me.
Playing to Your Strengths as a Freelance Consultant
So how does all this relate to freelance consultants? A while back I wrote a post, Why Should I Hire You?, where I talk about the importance of narrowing your focus and not just taking on any work you can get.
To expand on that idea, you should focus on your strengths. Become an expert in your field by playing to your strengths, and not only will you get better and better, but you’ll also love every minute of it!
Cheers
Dino
Fail to Plan and You Plan to Fail
“Fail to plan and you plan to fail“. It’s a much quoted saying and you know what? It’s absolutely true!
Why Should I Hire You?
Why should I hire you? It’s a simple question and one that you need to be able to answer quickly and confidently.
Quitting the Rat Race
I like the term rat race. I guess it’s because I realized that’s where I was, and once I’d done that, the term itself gave me motivation to change things. [Read more…] about Quitting the Rat Race